Read Online Rush by Tori Minard - Free Book Online Page B

whether or not he
realized I knew? He was the guilty party, not me. There was absolutely nothing
for me to be ashamed of, yet here I was, trying to hide my thoughts from him.
It made no sense, even to me.
    He turned back to me, his jaw tense. “You
know, don’t you?”
    I met his gaze head-on instead of
flinching away like I wanted to. “Yes.”
    It seemed to be his turn to look down,
to avoid contact. “So.”
    “Is it true?”
    “Every word.” His voice had a flippant
tone that made me want to smack him.
    Paige was looking back and forth from me
to him. I could see in her expression that she knew something was going on but
she couldn’t guess what it was.
    “Do you mind cluing me in?” she said.
    “I can’t,” I said. “It has to do with
Trent.”
    “Oh.” She looked back and forth between
us again. “Okay, then.”
    “Sorry,” I said. “We didn’t mean to be
rude. I’d much rather talk about ghosts anyway.” Right now, a root canal
sounded better than yet more elliptical conversation about Max’s past misdeeds.
    “Okay, then what if the ghost comes
back?” Paige said. “What should she do then?”
    “Like I said, they usually don’t mean
any harm,” Max said, carrying on as if he hadn’t just confessed to murder. “But
if she does anything that seems threatening, Caro, don’t hesitate to call me. I’ll
be happy to help.”
    I refrained, just barely, from rolling
my eyes. “How would you do that?”
    “There are a number of things I could
do. I can try to communicate with her and find out what she wants; I can banish
her and I can put a protective seal on your dorm room to keep her from coming
back. It all depends on the circumstances and what you want.”
    “I want to forget all about it.” I
picked up my gym bag. “Come on, Paige. We should get to the gym before it gets
crowded.”
    He frowned slightly, watching me as I
stood. I could see that he was trying to figure me out, trying to make sense of
my curt behavior. It should be obvious to him. I’d found out about him and I
couldn’t stand to be near him anymore. There was nothing ambiguous about it.
    I made myself smile at him. “Thanks for
the advice, Max. We’ll see you around, okay?”
    “Sure. Have a good time at the gym.”
    “Will do,” Paige said with a broad
smile.
    I turned and stalked toward the door. I
was being rude and bitchy and I knew it, but at the moment I didn’t care. Ever
since Trent had told me what Max had done, I couldn’t look at or think of him
the same way.
    He’d only been ten years old when it
happened. Maybe I should have had more compassion for him. It was the
no-remorse part of it that bothered me the most. Accidents happen, sometimes
tragic accidents, but to have no remorse and no sense of responsibility, that
was unforgivable.
    “Are you mad at me?” Paige said as we
left the commons for the sunshine of the outdoors.
    “No. Why?”
    “You seem mad.”
    “I told you; I’m tired today. It’s
making me cranky.”
    She sent me a wide-eyed, disbelieving
glance and started down the stairs. “If you say so.”
    I couldn’t tell her about Max and Carter.
I just couldn’t. Trent would be furious with me if I did. He’d had a difficult
enough time trusting me with the information in the first place; if I betrayed
his trust, he’d never tell me anything again.
    Still, it would be good to get an
outside perspective on the situation.
    “You were kinda rude to Max in there,”
she said.
    “I know.”
    “Is he the one you’re mad at?”
    “Paige, I’m just tired. That’s all it
is.”
    “Sure.”
    I sighed. “There’s some stuff going on
with Trent. I can’t talk about it.”
    “I knew it! I knew you weren’t just
tired. So tell me all about it.”
    “I told you; I can’t. He’d be pissed if
he found out I told you.”
    She stopped me with a hand on my
forearm. “You’re not pregnant, are you?”
    I almost laughed. “No. Not pregnant.”
    “Whew. Good.”
    “It has to do